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Reclaiming Your Sexual Life: Treatment Strategies for Erectile Dysfunction

Summary & Participants

By now, Viagra^TM has become virtually a household name. But there are many possible causes of erectile dysfunction and various treatment options for each case. How do you and your doctor determine which is best for you? Join our panel of experts as they address different strategies for making sexual intercourse a possibility again.

Medically Reviewed On: June 20, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Welcome to our webcast. I'm David Folk Thomas. You're looking right now at some common treatments for erectile dysfunction. There are a lot of treatments for it out there. That's our topic today: erectile dysfunction or male impotence, or in more layman's terms, "getting it up" or having trouble "getting it up." Fifteen million men in the United States alone suffer from erectile dysfunction. Of those 15 million, only one in 20 seek treatment. This makes erectile dysfunction one of the most common medical problems that goes untreated in the world. We're going to get to the bottom of how to treat it and show you about that.

Right now, joining me are two experts. On my left is Dr. Michael Perelman. He is a Cornell psychologist, specializing in sex and marital therapy in Manhattan. Next to Dr. Perelman is Dr. François Eid. He is the Director of the Center for Male Sexual Function at New York Hospital in Manhattan. Also joining us are a couple of Dr. Eid's patients. They're off-camera -- Jim and John. They have both received the internal penile pump. We're going to get into that and show you exactly how that works and find out what their experiences have been. Gentlemen, thanks for joining me today.

GUESTS: Thank you.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Let's start with you, Dr. Eid. All of the treatments out there, what different types of treatments are there for erectile dysfunction?

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: We have a lot of different treatments. Really what I'd like to start with is by saying that we can treat every single man that has a problem with erection. That is something that I'm very proud to be able to say that.

Now, of course, the initial treatment that everybody tries is Viagra. Viagra is an incredible medication.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: It got a lot of publicity. A lot of jokes on lately.

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: A lot of publicity, a lot of jokes, but it's extremely effective. The number of patients that receive Viagra prescriptions is tremendous. Approximately one million men a month receive a prescription of Viagra. Now of that million men, approximately 350,000 are new prescriptions.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: What does Viagra do exactly?

J. FRANÇOIS EID, MD: Viagra works by blocking the enzyme that takes away an erection. If a patient is unable to start an erection, initiate an erection, Viagra will not work. Viagra will improve an erection.

MICHAEL PERELMAN, PhD: It's particularly important for people to realize that, as we've discussed before, you need direct stimulation to the penis in order to be able to obtain and maintain your erection. So one of the beauties of Viagra is taking the pill will not give you an erection, but when you get the same kind of stimulation that used to result in good experiences sexually for you, this will allow it to happen again.

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